“Texts Can Be Deleted” Sex Texts To Client Draw Six-Month Oklahoma Suspension

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered a six-month suspension of an attorney admitted in 1992

This is Respondent’s first disciplinary matter before this Court. Prior to the interim suspension, Respondent was in private practice primarily representing criminal defense clients. At the time of the incident, he had been in practice for 24 years. Respondent solicited prostitution on two different occasions from his criminal defense client, S.R., who was 25 years old, single, unemployed, and had a newborn infant. Respondent has known S.R. since 2011; he represented her when he worked as a public defender. Since then, he has represented S.R. relating to multiple criminal charges.

Respondent and S.R. never engaged in a physical sexual relationship. There is no evidence in the record that there was any physical touching between them. Respondent’s crimes occurred through him soliciting his client, via text message, to engage in prostitution. Respondent initiated and continued a sexual dialogue with his client, S.R. via text message for almost seven weeks. The basis for this summary disciplinary proceeding arises from the criminal charges and his subsequent pleas of nolo contendere.

On the night of June 28, 2016 at 10:18 p.m., Respondent sent a text to S.R. advising her that the municipal cases were dismissed and it was likely the charges would not be reported to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. He next suggested S.R. take him to lunch instead of re-paying $20. A text conversation then followed with Respondent quickly shifting the “lunch” plan to dinner and a movie. Four hours after this initial text, Respondent crossed a line. He asked his client if S.R. wanted him to be a “gentleman” and asked her if she wanted him “to keep my hands off you?” S.R. replied by asking Respondent if it was “ok to be talking about over text.”  Respondent assured her that  “[t]exts can be deleted.”He then made it clear that he desired a physical relationship.

Respondent continued to escalate the text dialogue. By 1:00 the following afternoon, 14 hours after his initial suggestion for “lunch,” he offered to take S.R. on a shopping spree to Victoria’s Secret and he made crude suggestions. He admitted that he had “always had a thing for [S.R.]” and he had “liked [her] for years!” Respondent continued making inappropriate sexual advances via text message toward his client and requesting she text him photographs of her body and give him a “preview.” S.R. sent some photos of her unclothed body via text. Respondent said he liked what he was seeing, but he “would like to get the real thing!” Within 5 days of his initial text suggesting “lunch,” he solicited S.R., offering her $100 for the “real thing.”  S.R. let him know that “[r]egardless of you think [sic.], I haven’t ever done that before.”  Respondent continued sending sexual text messages to S.R. About one month later, he solicited sex from his client, asking how much she would charge for “straight sex” and what else she would be willing to do and the cost. His client never initiated the sexual text dialogue and never solicited Respondent. His actions were solely driven by Respondent’s private motivations.

 Respondent continued to text his client over a span of seven weeks making repeated requests for a sexual relationship with S.R. and sought pictures of her undressed body. There was a clear imbalance of power between S.R. and Respondent. She was indigent and struggling to obtain state supported benefits for food and healthcare for herself and her infant. S.R.had a history of drug abuse, and Respondent had just completed defending her on drug related municipal charges. The relationship between S.R. and the father of her infant was strained. In spite of these many known hardships afflicting his client, Respondent continued to send text messages pressing her for a sexual relationship. Even when S.R. would express how overwhelmed she was feeling with her life situation and at a breaking point, Respondent continued the sexual text dialogue asking to see her and to physically consummate this relationship.

The final solicitation for prostitution from Respondent occurred at a time that S.R. was likely at her most vulnerable point. Respondent sent another text message pressing to see her. S.R. responded letting him know that the Department of Human Services (DHS) had removed her baby from her home and that the police were going to be filing for a warrant and pressing charges against her. When she responded that there is no use in discussing the charges with Respondent because she has no money, he asked her if she would “want to do favors for a fee?”

It was shortly after this last solicitation that S.R. was arrested. After she was in the physical custody of the police, a text message was received from Respondent. The police recognized the Respondent’s name and noted that the context of the text message seemed inappropriate and out of line for an attorney-client communication. The police conducted a search of S.R.’s cell phone. After searching her phone, the police next obtained a warrant so they could search Respondent’s cell phone. The search revealed the voluminous text messages between Respondent and S.R. and the prostitution solicitations made by Respondent.

The attorney pled no contest to misdemeanor charges.

In the bar case

It is deeply disturbing to this Court that Respondent attempts to shift any responsibility to his client, the victim of his calculated and premeditated crimes and professional misconduct. Respondent expressed that he had a long-standing attraction and desire for S.R., that spanned “years.” The eighty-three (83) pages of text messages between Respondent and S.R. paint an unmistakable picture. Respondent initiated this sexual dialogue and he alone pursued a sexual relationship, it was not consensual. Moreover, at the moment S.R. is at her most vulnerable, Respondent urges her again for a sexual relationship offering she could do “favors” for a fee. The pursuit of a sexual relationship was independently driven by Respondent.

Dissents